Hanau epe

The Hanau epe or Long-ears were a group of semi-legendary people who are said to have arrived at Easter Island. According to some theories (particularly the one popularised by Thor Heyerdahl), they were a South American indigenous people,[1] but most evidence suggests that the original Easter Islanders were Polynesian in origin.[2]

Sebastian Englert states that "Long-Ear" is a misinterpretation of Hanau ‘E‘epe "stout race".[3]

The legend

There are two legends about how the Hanau epe reached Easter Island. The first is that they arrived some time after the local Polynesians and tried to enslave them. However, some earlier accounts place the Hanau epe as the original inhabitants[4] and the Polynesians as later immigrants from Oparo / Rapa Iti. According to this story, after the arrival of both groups, mutual suspicions led to a violent clash and the Hanau epe were exterminated, except for one.[5] In 1772, a description of the islands demographics by Jacob Roggeveen claimed that there were two distinctive ethnic groups: Polynesians and 'White' people, whose earlobes were lengthened a great amount. This suggests that the Hanau epe were not exterminated, but still lived peacefully alongside the Polynesians.

References

  1. ^ Heyderdahl, Thor. Easter Island - The Mystery Solved. Random House New York 1989.
  2. ^ Jared Diamond,Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, Penguin, London (2005), pp 86-90.
  3. ^ The entry for hanau includes 'race, ethnic group. Hanau eepe, the thick-set race; hanau momoko, the slender race (these terms were mistranslated as "long-ears" and "short-ears").' Englert, Sebastian, 1993. La tierra de Hotu Matu‘a — Historia y Etnología de la Isla de Pascua, Gramática y Diccionario del antiguo idioma de la isla. Sexta edición aumentada. (The Land of Hotu Matu‘a — History and Ethnology of Easter Island, Grammar and Dictionary of the Old Language of the Island. Sixth expanded edition.) Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria.
  4. ^ This version was recorded by Doctor J.L. Palmer in 1868. See Heyerdahl. It must be noted, however, that the legends may be influenced by the situation of the 1860s: fierce fighting ensued on the island when the remaining population and returning immigrants fought for the land and resources.
  5. ^ The "Hanau Eepe", their Immigration and Extermination.